Dear Gary and Purl,
Here is a bible verse for the day. I think it speaks to what we have been talking about.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."
MICAH 6:8
Here is information on SABBATH.
-Malady
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
QUAKER SUMMER by Lisa Samson
Dear Gary and Purl,
I'm getting a little off topic but I wanted to tell you about something. I'm currently reading a book called QUAKER SUMMER upon the recommendation of Katrina over at Callapidder Days. I'm very particular about Christian fiction. I often find it to be either over the top or extremely "precious" or both. However, I really like this one so far. It is about a wealthy woman who has everything but is disillusioned and lost. Her spending habits are out of control and she can't seem to find her place in the world. At one point, she and her exhausted surgeon husband talk about escaping on a vacation.
"See, we fritter away our lives making enough to provide ourselves with four-star accomodations when we crawl home each night, and when all that isn't enough, when our bones are pitted and our muscles wasted, when our hearts are emptied out and imploded, we just want to get away from the reminders of our own foolishness."
That really rings true for me. It is so easy to get caught up in our daily lives. There is a book I hope we can read later called SABBATH that talks about creating sacred time in our lives. It is so important to do that so we don't get lost and burned out.
The book is really great so far and I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, I'll finish up the next section of Lewis.
I'm getting a little off topic but I wanted to tell you about something. I'm currently reading a book called QUAKER SUMMER upon the recommendation of Katrina over at Callapidder Days. I'm very particular about Christian fiction. I often find it to be either over the top or extremely "precious" or both. However, I really like this one so far. It is about a wealthy woman who has everything but is disillusioned and lost. Her spending habits are out of control and she can't seem to find her place in the world. At one point, she and her exhausted surgeon husband talk about escaping on a vacation.
"See, we fritter away our lives making enough to provide ourselves with four-star accomodations when we crawl home each night, and when all that isn't enough, when our bones are pitted and our muscles wasted, when our hearts are emptied out and imploded, we just want to get away from the reminders of our own foolishness."
That really rings true for me. It is so easy to get caught up in our daily lives. There is a book I hope we can read later called SABBATH that talks about creating sacred time in our lives. It is so important to do that so we don't get lost and burned out.
The book is really great so far and I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, I'll finish up the next section of Lewis.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Another Beginning
Dear Malady and Gary,
Thank you so much for welcoming me into your journey. I have read your posts from the beginning and begged Malady to let me participate. Are you almost finished with Mere Christianity? Maybe I should start with your next book.
Unlike the two of you, I had a fairly strict religious upbringing. I was raised Catholic: we went to mass every weekend, and I attended Catholic school from 3rd through 12th grade. My parents chose my schools, however, due to their academic reputations.
My mother came from a Catholic family, but my father's family was Southern Baptist. I spent plenty of time visiting Baptist churches as a kid, especially when I would visit a cousin in South Carolina. Although I had lots of questions about the Catholic faith as I got older, I immediately questioned the beliefs of fundamentalists, especially because my cousin was nothing like the person she professed to be on Sundays.
Once I went to college, I did not attend church. In fact, I did not attend church at all until this past year. (I am 41, so I spent 22 years as a nonbeliever.) My husband and I spent a few years discussing faith and thinking about attending church, but we didn't join a church until we moved to Texas. I often longed for faith; I would talk about how comforting it would be to believe.
I immediately felt at home in our Lutheran Church, which friends of my mother recommended. If anyone had told me that I would enjoy going to church and even become an active volunteer, I would never have believed them.
But I still classify myself as a reluctant Christian. I am a liberal and have far more in common with people who are not religious. And as Malady said once, as liberals we worry about making other people feel uncomfortable. I take this worry too far--I've even been uncomfortable telling gay people that I am married, because I don't want them to accuse me of homophobia!
I am thrilled to be a part of your journey. Thank you for inviting me.
Purl
Thank you so much for welcoming me into your journey. I have read your posts from the beginning and begged Malady to let me participate. Are you almost finished with Mere Christianity? Maybe I should start with your next book.
Unlike the two of you, I had a fairly strict religious upbringing. I was raised Catholic: we went to mass every weekend, and I attended Catholic school from 3rd through 12th grade. My parents chose my schools, however, due to their academic reputations.
My mother came from a Catholic family, but my father's family was Southern Baptist. I spent plenty of time visiting Baptist churches as a kid, especially when I would visit a cousin in South Carolina. Although I had lots of questions about the Catholic faith as I got older, I immediately questioned the beliefs of fundamentalists, especially because my cousin was nothing like the person she professed to be on Sundays.
Once I went to college, I did not attend church. In fact, I did not attend church at all until this past year. (I am 41, so I spent 22 years as a nonbeliever.) My husband and I spent a few years discussing faith and thinking about attending church, but we didn't join a church until we moved to Texas. I often longed for faith; I would talk about how comforting it would be to believe.
I immediately felt at home in our Lutheran Church, which friends of my mother recommended. If anyone had told me that I would enjoy going to church and even become an active volunteer, I would never have believed them.
But I still classify myself as a reluctant Christian. I am a liberal and have far more in common with people who are not religious. And as Malady said once, as liberals we worry about making other people feel uncomfortable. I take this worry too far--I've even been uncomfortable telling gay people that I am married, because I don't want them to accuse me of homophobia!
I am thrilled to be a part of your journey. Thank you for inviting me.
Purl
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
The Inconvenient Truth
Dear Malady (and Purl, I hope!) -
I just finished the final chapter of Book 2, "The Practical Conclusion." There is a passage in that chapter that I think parallels the thoughts you had in your last post:
"A Christian is not a (person) who never goes wrong, but a (person) who is enabled to repent and pick (herself) up and begin over again after each stumble..."
Your last post was an insightful interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:11. For a waffling Christian like me, your message is a call to authentic adulthood. You discuss the "inconvenience" of faith and you're right, it can be distressingly inconvenient. Becoming a person of faith means making a conscious choice to become a "real" adult.
Becoming a "real" adult means deciding to not act on any whim, desire, or emotion that strikes you. Now that I've reached the ripe old age of 40, it's hard for me to imagine simply indulging my emotions and doing whatever I want. There was a time when I wouldn't have believed my saying so. That doesn't mean I don't feel the impulses to do whatever I want (believe me, I do), but I sometimes experience a kind of growth that leads to greater happiness if I abstain.
It depends on the situation, but I discover more often as I get older that when I just mindlessly charge ahead, I find nothing but emptiness on the other side. Being reckless doesn't do anything to help me find the truth about myself or my life. It's beyond just believing - I actually FEEL that finding some kind of truth about my life is what will lead to happiness for me. My sense is that your faith in God does the same for you. It's what I perceive when you say "I have to exercise my faith to get healthy and strong."
With that said, I think there times we have to indulge our whims and emotions to get to a new place in our lives. These are the situations that make life so bewildering to me; why can't I just pick the right thing to do? But our emotions give us our humanity and, as annoying and destructive as they can be, I have to say I'm really glad I "feel" all the things I do. Emotions are what make me alive!
Your discussion of our being "God's children" reminded me that He knows we're going to slip up sometimes and that's OK. Lewis, too, says that's part of being Christian - that we can "pick ourselves up after each stumble." Thank God (literally) for that.
-Gary
I just finished the final chapter of Book 2, "The Practical Conclusion." There is a passage in that chapter that I think parallels the thoughts you had in your last post:
"A Christian is not a (person) who never goes wrong, but a (person) who is enabled to repent and pick (herself) up and begin over again after each stumble..."
Your last post was an insightful interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:11. For a waffling Christian like me, your message is a call to authentic adulthood. You discuss the "inconvenience" of faith and you're right, it can be distressingly inconvenient. Becoming a person of faith means making a conscious choice to become a "real" adult.
Becoming a "real" adult means deciding to not act on any whim, desire, or emotion that strikes you. Now that I've reached the ripe old age of 40, it's hard for me to imagine simply indulging my emotions and doing whatever I want. There was a time when I wouldn't have believed my saying so. That doesn't mean I don't feel the impulses to do whatever I want (believe me, I do), but I sometimes experience a kind of growth that leads to greater happiness if I abstain.
It depends on the situation, but I discover more often as I get older that when I just mindlessly charge ahead, I find nothing but emptiness on the other side. Being reckless doesn't do anything to help me find the truth about myself or my life. It's beyond just believing - I actually FEEL that finding some kind of truth about my life is what will lead to happiness for me. My sense is that your faith in God does the same for you. It's what I perceive when you say "I have to exercise my faith to get healthy and strong."
With that said, I think there times we have to indulge our whims and emotions to get to a new place in our lives. These are the situations that make life so bewildering to me; why can't I just pick the right thing to do? But our emotions give us our humanity and, as annoying and destructive as they can be, I have to say I'm really glad I "feel" all the things I do. Emotions are what make me alive!
Your discussion of our being "God's children" reminded me that He knows we're going to slip up sometimes and that's OK. Lewis, too, says that's part of being Christian - that we can "pick ourselves up after each stumble." Thank God (literally) for that.
-Gary
Monday, June 18, 2007
A New Person on the Journey and an Update
Dear Gary--
I know you haven't had time to respond to my last post but I wanted to drop you a quick note.
I have invited Purl to join us on our little adventure. She has expressed interest in our project and I thought she would have interesting insights to offer.
I am almost finished with Book Two in MERE CHRISTIANITY and will be posting about it soon!!!
-Malady
I know you haven't had time to respond to my last post but I wanted to drop you a quick note.
I have invited Purl to join us on our little adventure. She has expressed interest in our project and I thought she would have interesting insights to offer.
I am almost finished with Book Two in MERE CHRISTIANITY and will be posting about it soon!!!
-Malady
Monday, June 4, 2007
1 Corinthians 13:11
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a [man], I put away childish things." 1 Corinthians 13:11
Dear Gary,
I have always liked this bible verse although it makes me sad in a lot of ways. Is it so wonderful "to put away childish things?" I'm not so sure. In Luke 18:15-17, Jesus meets with a group of children and the disciples try to shoo them away. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." So, here we have yet another biblical contradiction. Or do we?
Not along ago, we talked about people coming to faith for comfort and security. I think that is how faith begins for many of us. Especially for those of us who first experienced it as children. Jesus/God is revealed to us as a type of father figure. This can be one of our earliest demonstrations of right versus wrong. For some of us, this includes the threat of hell. As a child, I was taught that Jesus died for my sins and that I should always try to follow His example. And I don't think that is such a bad thing to teach a child. Religion can be our first exposure to ethics and morality. But as we get older, we can't relate to God on such a simplistic level. Our faith must grow as we do. We have to "put away childish things" and challenge ourselves. Faith is hard. We are confronted with questions every day and sometimes we may have to do things that we don't want to do. It is infinitely easier to do just what we want instead of doing as we ought to. Faith can be very inconvenient. Like going to the gym. I hate going to the gym. But I know I need to in order to get healthy and strong. Some Sundays, I just don't feel like going to church. But I have to remind myself that I need to EXERCISE my faith.
At the same time, we can also appreciate the simplicity of faith. We can boil it down to the basics. What does it mean to be a Christian? After we let go of all the worldly trappings and "stuff," what do we end up with? This is where we can become childlike. I think a Christian believes in Christ as his/her Savior and follows His example. And the rest of it can fall away. There are plenty of facets to faith that we can discuss and dissect. Congregations have broken up over disagreements about a single theological point. And I think this is where Jesus tells us to receive the Kingdom of God like a little child. Then, we can go on to explore it in detail. Adding our life experiences and exposure to other ideas.
In my anthropological studies, I have explored many different religions and I have always been struck by how similar many of them are. This has served to STRENGTHEN my faith rather than impede it. Human beings have always sought a relationship with the divine. And the common threads throughout many religions lead me to believe that there is a grain of truth in all of them. That ulimately, we are all striving towards the same conclusion. And I bring that with me into my faith life.
We can be childlike in our faith while putting away childish things. And we can turn to God for strength and wisdom as Lewis encourages us to do. Because ultimately, we are God's children.
-Malady
Dear Gary,
I have always liked this bible verse although it makes me sad in a lot of ways. Is it so wonderful "to put away childish things?" I'm not so sure. In Luke 18:15-17, Jesus meets with a group of children and the disciples try to shoo them away. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." So, here we have yet another biblical contradiction. Or do we?
Not along ago, we talked about people coming to faith for comfort and security. I think that is how faith begins for many of us. Especially for those of us who first experienced it as children. Jesus/God is revealed to us as a type of father figure. This can be one of our earliest demonstrations of right versus wrong. For some of us, this includes the threat of hell. As a child, I was taught that Jesus died for my sins and that I should always try to follow His example. And I don't think that is such a bad thing to teach a child. Religion can be our first exposure to ethics and morality. But as we get older, we can't relate to God on such a simplistic level. Our faith must grow as we do. We have to "put away childish things" and challenge ourselves. Faith is hard. We are confronted with questions every day and sometimes we may have to do things that we don't want to do. It is infinitely easier to do just what we want instead of doing as we ought to. Faith can be very inconvenient. Like going to the gym. I hate going to the gym. But I know I need to in order to get healthy and strong. Some Sundays, I just don't feel like going to church. But I have to remind myself that I need to EXERCISE my faith.
At the same time, we can also appreciate the simplicity of faith. We can boil it down to the basics. What does it mean to be a Christian? After we let go of all the worldly trappings and "stuff," what do we end up with? This is where we can become childlike. I think a Christian believes in Christ as his/her Savior and follows His example. And the rest of it can fall away. There are plenty of facets to faith that we can discuss and dissect. Congregations have broken up over disagreements about a single theological point. And I think this is where Jesus tells us to receive the Kingdom of God like a little child. Then, we can go on to explore it in detail. Adding our life experiences and exposure to other ideas.
In my anthropological studies, I have explored many different religions and I have always been struck by how similar many of them are. This has served to STRENGTHEN my faith rather than impede it. Human beings have always sought a relationship with the divine. And the common threads throughout many religions lead me to believe that there is a grain of truth in all of them. That ulimately, we are all striving towards the same conclusion. And I bring that with me into my faith life.
We can be childlike in our faith while putting away childish things. And we can turn to God for strength and wisdom as Lewis encourages us to do. Because ultimately, we are God's children.
-Malady
Friday, June 1, 2007
The Atonement
Dear Malady,
I just finished reading the chapter called "The Perfect Penitent" in Mere Christianity. Lewis talks about some people's complaint that Jesus's sufferings and death aren't meaningful "because it must have been so easy for Him" (p. 58). Evidently, this complaint stems from the perception that Jesus somehow had an unfair advantage over His fellow human beings.
However, Lewis goes on to ask, "To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?" (p. 59) Though I'm still not sure if Jesus's death carries any particular meaning for me (because I am exploring), I certainly look to Him to help me with my troubles and ease my pain. I do so for the reason Lewis illustrates: that Jesus is stronger than me, that He can somehow relate to me as a human being, and that I am somehow 'right' with God; that He is my friend.
As a Christian, you surely see how the divine and the corporeal intersect. Is it important to you to show others who cannot see that intersection that the two are not exclusive? What does that intersection look like in your own life?
-Gary
I just finished reading the chapter called "The Perfect Penitent" in Mere Christianity. Lewis talks about some people's complaint that Jesus's sufferings and death aren't meaningful "because it must have been so easy for Him" (p. 58). Evidently, this complaint stems from the perception that Jesus somehow had an unfair advantage over His fellow human beings.
However, Lewis goes on to ask, "To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?" (p. 59) Though I'm still not sure if Jesus's death carries any particular meaning for me (because I am exploring), I certainly look to Him to help me with my troubles and ease my pain. I do so for the reason Lewis illustrates: that Jesus is stronger than me, that He can somehow relate to me as a human being, and that I am somehow 'right' with God; that He is my friend.
As a Christian, you surely see how the divine and the corporeal intersect. Is it important to you to show others who cannot see that intersection that the two are not exclusive? What does that intersection look like in your own life?
-Gary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)